Baptist Health, Girl Scouts partner to restore camp’s native hammock

Baptist Health South Florida and Girl Scout volunteers join together for a morning of “green happiness” as they plant more than 350 native small trees and shrubs at Girl Scout Camp Mahachee.

Baptist Health South Florida recently partnered with local Girl Scout volunteers for a morning of “green happiness” as they planted more than 350 native small trees and shrubs at Girl Scout Camp Mahachee.

The historic site, spanning more than 11 acres, was dedicated for the use of Girl Scouts of Dade County in 1948, and has served as a troop camp, day camp and a center of community activities. The volunteer efforts aimed to restore the native hammock and develop the canopy in the area. Baptist Health South Florida donated a wide array of native foliage, including Gumbo Limbo, Marlberry, Satin Leaf and Krug’s Holly, among others.

“The native habitat at Girl Scout Camp Mahachee is a priceless asset to our local Girl Scouts,” said Sally Ann Boggess, chief operating officer for the Girl Scout Council of Tropical Florida Inc. “We are grateful to all the Baptist Health volunteers who helped ensure that Girl Scout Camp Mahachee will be enjoyed by generations of Girl Scouts to come.”

Additionally, the greenery planted during the event helped to restore the tree canopy as a part of the Million Trees Miami Initiative, a community-wide effort to plant 1 million trees by 2020 in order to achieve a 30 percent tree canopy cover for Miami-Dade County. Planting these trees supports the Healthy Communities goal area in GreenPrint, a community plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cut energy, water and fuel consumption, and help develop a sustainable community for future generations.